


Foreigner's God

by PrettyMessedUpSituation (MarcelinesNightosphere)



Series: From Eden [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Compliant, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Self-Destruction, Self-Hatred
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 13:18:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3611466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarcelinesNightosphere/pseuds/PrettyMessedUpSituation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby turned manipulation into an art.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Foreigner's God

**Author's Note:**

> In between "No Rest for the Wicked" and "Lazarus Rising," meant to be a quick overview of Ruby and Sam's relationship from when she returns after Dean is sent to hell, up until Dean arrives at the motel door.  
> Based on "Foreigner's God" by Hozier.

Nothing had mattered to him anymore.

Not twelve hours had passed before he had assumed his brother’s role, having taken to the bottle before he even pulled out of Pontiac. He’d never been so broken.

There was something about Ruby that drew Sam in, his lack of will and purpose guiding him to her. When everything in his life was empty, she looked into him with sharp and determined eyes, placing the seed of hope that she could cultivate in the darkest parts of him. She gave Sam something to work toward, something to throw himself into every day that didn’t focus on the fact that his brother was gone. He needed that.

Ruby demanded sobriety from him and played up to his moral code; how beautiful it was that at the same time, she was creating an insatiable addiction and pushing him farther from what he knew was right by the day - and she had him for months. She continued testing and pushing him relentlessly to be stronger. It wasn’t as if she had to do much prodding; he would beat himself up over his lack of perfection. His failures ate at him as she spouted warnings of his weaknesses that hauntingly reminded him of things his brother might say.

Dean would have hated him if he had known what he was doing, and that weighed heavy on his heart when he was alone with his thoughts. Ruby made certain those moments were rare.

Overpowering his doubts, manipulative words flowed from a mouth that knew every inch of him. She made Sam lose himself in every way, crying out her name in late and lonely hours. In those moments he didn’t care that he was siding himself with darkness. Every day he lost more and more of the Sam his brother had known trying to emulate the version of him Ruby had so skillfully sold: the man who could use his dark powers for good to defeat greater evil.

Ruby feared at any moment she could say or do the wrong thing and Sam would end her. Masking her fear, she pulled at the parts of his soul that were desperate for love, and called it a success when she had lured him into trust. All the while she had been molding him into who she needed him to be - the ace in her hand waiting to be played at just the right moment.

Nothing had mattered to him anymore. He buried more than his brother that day; he had lost his sense of self. Then when he had hit his lowest, a stranger came along to rebuild him. As she healed his grief, she broke him, letting him scream out the name of an absent god while she drew closer to succeeding.

But he hadn’t known all of that when Dean showed up at his motel door; all he had known was that something finally mattered again.


End file.
